The Capitol's Tribute

Cinna had Brant and I dressed in identical black outfits, a pair of pants and a short sleeve shirt, both skin tight. They were flexible and I had a strong feeling they probably sucked in sweat like no other because I was definitely sweating buckets without a single sweat mark. The right sleeve had the numbers 12 embroidered in to let everyone know who we were. I was surprised Haymitch hadn’t had the Capitol symbol tattooed on, milking my Capitol angle for all it was worth. But, all the other tributes had the same outfit on with their own District number. We had to be uniform now.

Brant wanted to stay together but I had no other choice then to go along with Haymitch’s plan.

“You go over to the combat area, I’ll check out the knot tying station.” I told him gently, “The more we cover, the better our chances.”

Brant seemed to find this logical and made his way to the combat area where Malum and all the other careers were. I gulped as I caught Malum’s eye again. With his piercing blue eyes and buzz cut blonde hair, he stood at a towering five foot ten and always had a devious smirk on his tan face. Every time I caught a glimpse at him, or caught him smirking at me, the hairs all over my body stood up on edge.

I shook it off and wandered toward my station. A balding middle aged man, wearing his own sweat outfit with the Capitol’s symbol on it, smiled brightly at me. I could see why, no one really came to these stations. They really kept toward the weapons and fighting ones where they could show off how strong and deadly they were.

The man showed me how to tie a few simple knots. When I barely mastered them, we moved onto complicated ones that I had no hope of doing. After about twenty minutes on one knot, I decided it was time to give up and move to a new station.

As I made my way to a new station, I noticed that Malum was not the only one watching me. Up in the box about ten feet above us, were the Gamemakers, sitting in and evaluating all the tributes. I pushed on, trying to ignore that I was being watched by everyone. It was a new pressure added on top of all the others.

I ended up at the berry and plants station and there were two others there: Holland, the redhead from 5, and Freddy Mason from 7. I smiled lightly at them. Holland looked at me, alarmed and wide eyed. But, I guessed I could have just been reading too far into it because her face always seemed to be like that.

Freddy, on the other hand, waved happily at me and started up conversation.

“So, you’re the girl from the Capitol?” His youthful voice asked. His chocolate eyes were bright and carefree. His curly brown hair was unruly on his head as if someone had tried to make them flat but failed terribly.

“That would be me.” I answered, unsure whether to be on my guard. Haymitch had said this boy was dangerous but he just seemed like a regular kid to me, trying to mask his fear with over zealous happiness. I could see the fear in his eyes; it was in everyone who wasn’t a career.

“Is the Capitol a cool place to live?” He went on as the instructor started to go over which berries were poisonous or held healing properties.

I smiled, chuckling a bit at his enthusiasm. “You bet. Much better than Twelve, but that’s to be expected. We don’t have much running hot water, or running water in general.”

Freddy nodded, in awe by my simple words. “Wow.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed to genuinely blown away by my words and company.

“I’m Frederick Mason by the way! Or Freddy as everyone calls me.” He held out his tiny hand and I took it.

“Nice you meet you, Freddy.” I told him, “I’m Rixa Hart.”

“You have a cool name.” He smiled innocently. It tugged at my heartstrings that this boy was being sent to the Games at such a young age. Maybe this was his strategy: seem adorable and innocent and people will underestimate you.

Well, it was working. All I could think was how much he reminded me of Koel and how his death could be what stood in the way of Brant’s survival. It was just awful to think that way and I hated myself for it.

“So, what’s Seven like?” I interrogated, swallowing the rising lump in my throat.

Freddy sighed, playing with some of the berries, “Boring! All we do is cut down wood and sell wood.”

I laughed at Freddy’s whine about his District. It was something that Koel would say about our District and coal.

“What?” He said, unsure why I was laughing.

“You just reminded me of my little brother.” I told him as I rubbed various leaves on my skin, trying to find the one that felt like an ice pack was on your arm.

“Oh,” Freddy perked up, “What’s his name?”

“Koel.” Maybe I was letting him know too much. He would surely tell his mentors all about this and try and find my weakness. But, I was pretty sure that everyone knew my weakness was family from the Reaping.

“So, you have two brothers?” He questioned about to plop a purple berry in his mouth when the instructor stopped him.

“That’s nightlock.” She scolded him, swiping it from his hands. Freddy shrugged, smiling innocently.

“Sorry,” He pouted before turning back to me, “So, you have two brothers?” He repeated.

“Two brothers and a sister.” I told him, trying to hide my smile from the glaring instructor. If one of us had died on her watch, I’m sure the consequences would have been deadly.

“What’s her name?”

“Ruby.” I said. We stopped speaking as the instructor told us about the properties of nightlock and that we weren’t supposed to go near it. She went on to tell us all about an orange berry that was extremely rare. It kept you fed for days and if you rubbed it on a cut, it kept infection away. But, they had only appeared in one Game thirty years ago so the likelihood of ever seeing one was next to none.

When the grey haired, stony faced instructor finished, Freddy happily turned back to me and went on with our conversation as if there was no interruption.

“I’ve got a sister.” He told me, eying a berry to make sure it wasn’t nightlock and popping it in his mouth. His face scrunched up and he looked around frantically for something to spit it out on.

“Do you miss her?” I asked, holding up a leaf and giving it to Freddy to rid himself of the sour berry. He took it thankfully and hid it under the pile of leaves.

“No,” He shook his head, grinning shyly, “She’s my mentor.”

My eyes widened when I realized why his name sounded so familiar.

“You’re Johanna Mason’s little brother.” I stated, shocked. He nodded fervently, a smile clad on his boyish face.

“Yes, ma’am.” Freddy commented proudly. Haymitch was right about Freddy. His sister had turned out to be a crazed merciless killer, why shouldn’t little Frederick be one as well? I felt my face fall and Freddy’s expression changed.

“That’s usually how people react when they find out Johanna and I are related.” He sighed, leaning his face against his arms on the metal counter.

“Oh, no!” I put out my hands, waving them, “No, I wasn’t—” But, I was. Whatever it was, I was doing it. This kid was innocent, he wasn’t his sister. Why should I treat him like he was?

Freddy bit his lip; his big brown eyes were glazed over in fear.

“Freddy?” I asked tentively, patting his back awkwardly.

“Can I tell you something?” He asked in a small voice, “Will you promise not to tell Johanna?”

I wasn’t exactly on first name basis with her so yes, I could promise him this. This was probably one of the few promises I could keep.

“Of course.” I told him earnestly. Freddy glanced around, trying to put on a tough face.

He ducked his head and whispered, “I’m scared.”

I furrowed my brows, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. For once, no one was. “What are you scared of?”

Freddy glanced at me incredulously.

“You’re afraid to be in the Games?” I asked softly but he shook his head.

“Of killing someone? Of dying?” I went on, feeling weird for asking these questions. These were the things I was terrified of.

“No.” Freddy said, “Not about those things. It’s stupid really. Johanna would laugh at me if she ever found out.”

“What is it Freddy?” I pushed, feeling bad for him. “I promise I won’t laugh.”

Freddy frowned, looking quite distressed and embarrassed. “I—I’m afraid of…being alone.”

Alone? That was the last thing I was afraid of in all of this. I hadn’t thought twice about being alone when I had Brant. And I never felt like I was alone when I was constantly being suffocated by Peeta or Haymitch or Finnick.

“It’s stupid, I know,” Freddy went on when he took my silence as a bad thing. Maybe he was thinking that I would use this against him. “But, it’s something I can’t shake. I’m not used to being alone. It always reminds me of when Johanna had to go away to be in the Games. I don’t like to think about being without her. We’re all each other has.”

He seemed so truly distraught that I found myself pulling him into a hug, thinking about Koel who would be alone if Brant and I didn’t make it. So, I hugged Freddy tightly, feeling that pestering lump rise in my throat.

“You won’t be alone.” I promised Freddy, pulling away. He looked shocked but relieved by my consoling. “You know Johanna will be doing everything possible to help you. Besides, there will twenty three other people in the arena. And I promise that as long as you stick with me, you won’t be alone.”

Freddy glanced at me surprise. “Are you saying you want to be allies?” He asked hopefully.

I pursed my lips, glancing over at the combat area where Brant was still located. I caught his puzzled eye and could tell he was wondering what I was up to, what I was playing at by hugging Johanna Mason’s little brother.

“I’m saying that if our paths cross in the arena,” I sighed, probably going to regret this, “I’ll look after you for Johanna. Sound good?”

Freddy brightened up immediately, becoming the boy I had met when I first came to the station. He nodded his head wildly.

I forced a smile, feeling stressed over what I had just promised this boy. I couldn’t take care of Freddy and keep Brant alive. One of them would have to die for the other to win and I didn’t want that on my hands, no matter how much Freddy resembled our brother.

Now, I was feeling nauseous with guilt and had to find a way to let out my frustration. I made my way over to the combat section; flying straight passed all the gawking careers and Brant, and picked up the only weapon I really knew how to use. I grabbed the bow and an arrow and lifted it up, targeting the lifelike dummy. I took a deep breath and prayed that I wouldn’t miss with all these people watching. The Gamemakers were surely waiting to see if I was any good.

I let out the shaky breath through my nostrils and blocked at any sound. I swallowed the excess saliva and released the string, letting the arrow fly.